450 Watt PSU for a System with a HD 7950?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

AshkanVafaee

Honorable
Jan 5, 2014
28
0
10,530
Hi, I was wondering if my Antec SP-450 watt psu will be sufficient enough to power my system with a HD 7950 gpu, fx 8320 cpu, and an ssd. I've read that the recommended wattage for a hd 7950 is 500 watts but does this still hold true if a mechanical hard drive is not present? I would rather not buy a new psu if I don't have to.

Any responses will be appreciated.
 
Solution
TechyInAZ
That also depends on the cooler, make sure you read the recommended wattage on the manufactures site. not AMD's site.

If it is indeed 500W, then you should be ok, but NO overclocking.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Whateverworks_19

Whateverworks_19

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
868
7
19,665
You should be okay. From what I can read the HD 7950 has a TDP of max 250 watts when under steady load. Add the rest of your system and it will be below 450W. The good thing is, that Antec and the SP-series is good quality and will therefore deliver the claimed effect - as Mr.@TechyInAZ says; do not overclock though
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

AshkanVafaee

Honorable
Jan 5, 2014
28
0
10,530
I confirmed today that I was able to run my HD 7950 with the 450 watt power supply. I also was able to run a hdd along with my ssd and everything was still ok after playing an hour of Battle Field 3. Thank you for everyone's responses
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

holyrage

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2011
1,411
0
19,660
replace it when u can with an EVGA B2 or a superflower or a seasonic and an XFX or even corsair TX/HX/AX/I AVOID VS CX AND RM AVOID THEM

and from CM u have the V series everything elss is crap

also check the PSU tire list

oh and xfx uses Seasonic as their OEM so their PSUS are good and cheap when they are on an offer
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
madmatt30

madmatt30

Titan
Ambassador
Jan 1, 2013
24,574
650
91,240
Normally im the first to defend people on PSU's & recommended powerdraw of components with regards tovoverestimation etc.

In this case though I'm 100% with blackbird & falcon.

A 7950 & an fx 8 core is entirely capable of pulling 400w on the 12v rail alone.
That little antec is either on or past its limits with those components now - Id be wanting a decent 500w absolute minimum & if anything slightly bigger for any headroom for other components.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Whateverworks_19

Whateverworks_19

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
868
7
19,665
OP, I recommend seriously reading Blackbird, Falcon and Madmatt's comments, as they really know what they are talking about. I believed it to be fine, but do not under any circumstace take chances on the power supply. You risk your most valuable components if you do so, and compromise their lifetime, resulting in economic pain, thus it is not adviceable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

holyrage

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2011
1,411
0
19,660
here is the thing he is running 135+ for the card if he has the boost it could be 140~ 125 for the CPU add in another 100 for the motherboard

plus fans and HDD etc im pretty sure he is totaling around 400Watts maybe less but that PSU is old im not even sure it can supply it's rated power lol

@ OP if you're fine with it going POOF if u play a heavy game than go ahead but imo just get a new PSU it will cost 60~$ for a tier 1 PSU

just check the PSU tier list and buy something from tier 1 or tier 2 also if u go with a Superflower or a EVGA G2 u can keep that PSU for nearly 10 years

i mean it has a 10 year warranty after all something goes bad and u can make EVAG buy u a new PC
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

AshkanVafaee

Honorable
Jan 5, 2014
28
0
10,530
Lol, so now that I am actually testing this configuration, everyone is here to chime in their opinions. I'll refrain myself to only playing League of Legends until I get a new power supply or I sell this graphics card.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
madmatt30

madmatt30

Titan
Ambassador
Jan 1, 2013
24,574
650
91,240
^ people aren't on here 24/7 mate & its easy to miss posts.
As blackbird stated the sp is an old old model.
Its quite clear on the specs its capable of 410w max continous output across all the rails - meaning its not really a 450w PSU at all.

You have a CPU theoretically capable of 125w.
Motherboard /hard drives / ram will generally pull 60w all the time while the system is on & idling.
The 7950 is entirely capable of pulling 180w+ at 100% usage.
While your theoretical max usage is 'just' within the specs of the psu's capabilities capacitor aging is a genuine concern.

Do us and yourself a favour for safety's sake
1. Use MSI afterburner to limit the tdp to 80%
2. Set vsync on in catalyst control centre.

This will minimise wattage overhead on the gpu. & still give good performance while minimising the risk of overloading the system.

There's no need to stick to games like lol if you do this.
This is a safety measure & I would still highly recommend a new PSU as soon as you can afford one.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

holyrage

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2011
1,411
0
19,660
^ im pretty sure my card never pulled 180w+ with my 1300/1900 1.22V OC @118% limit

afaik the 850mhz 7950's pulled 135~watts so just do like the above post SET Powerplay(TDP) to 90 or 80% as low as it can without the card downclocking itself (at league u can leave it @ 80%) to extend the psu life span well whats left of it anyway

and have v-sync all the time if a game goes ape shit and the FPS goes all over the place a POOF might happen and u dont want your stuff to blow
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

AshkanVafaee

Honorable
Jan 5, 2014
28
0
10,530
Guys, my friend accidentally got on my computer and ran Battle Field 3 and everything exploded.................... lol jk. I took yall's advice and reduced the power limit on the gpu by 20%. I recently upgraded my psu to one with 625 watts and everything is running fine. Thanks to everyone's advice.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom